75 percent Canadians are distracted drivers

Canada, 6th October: A latest poll by Allstate Canada has revealed that almost 75 percent of Canadians do get distracted driving even though it’s viewed negatively by them.

Canada, 6th October: A latest poll by Allstate Canada has revealed that almost 75 percent of Canadians do get distracted driving even though it’s viewed negatively by them.

The survey respondents agreed that distractions including stereos, cellphones or passengers during driving are bad, but they agreed they do it anyways.

The survey undertaken by Leger Marketing found a difference in the way the drivers viewed distractions. Around 88 percent viewed texting on a mobile as something negative while around 19 percent said it was wrong to adjust an ipod or a radio while driving.

And 60 percent of Canadians admitted of operating the sound system of their moving vehicle while eight percent said they might be emailing or texting while driving.

The survey found that out of every 10 accidents, almost eight are due to distracted driving and almost 25 percent of Canadians agree of been involved or having seen someone involved in an accident due to distracted driving.

Eighty three percent of 1,600 survey respondents admitted that it was not right to talk on cellphone while driving but nearly 15 cent stated doing the same.

The survey defines cognitive, visual or manual distractions during the driving including changing a CD, texting on your cellphone, applying makeup, talking with co-passengers or using a GPS. Taking eyes away from the road for a period of five seconds while driving at a speed of 90 km an hour is like driving blind along the length of any football field.

According to Saskia Matheson, Allstate Insurance Company, Canada, the research reveals that Canadians are not fully aware of distractions while driving and hence, continue to be involved in such dangerous behaviors.

Canada Safety Council’s Raynald Marchand said that most of the accidents are due to the thinking of the drivers that they can multitask. Majority of drivers think they are good drivers, but, the truth is that they are just average drivers and they are only over-estimating their capacity to do several things at the same time.

The online survey was undertaken between July 26 and July 28 and is representative of the population within (plus or minus) 2.4 percentage points.